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This morning at its WWDC event, Apple announced that the coming update to OS X, dubbed Yosemite, will have a public beta period this summer. Developers will get their hands on the code today, but Apple is charting a new path by bringing its operating system preview to the public.

Yosemite features a flatter design, SMS and calling integration, boosts to Mail, and a host of other changes. The update will be available to the public in the fall, for free.

Why would Apple let the savvy public in sooner? I think that we are seeing a trend of greater openness of platform companies allowing the public into the beta code sooner rather than later. This points, in my view, to the fact that consumers are becoming more technologically capable — and curious — about the code they are using.

Whatever the case, the above means that if you’re on a Mac, you get new goodies very soon, and that’s a change from previous release iterations. (Keep in mind that Apple making operating system updates free is not a new change.)